Big Sur + Monterey Bay

Hotels in Big Sur + Monterey Bay

The whitewashed interiors of this 1929 luxury hotel channel a Greek Island hideaway, despite the hotel’s location in California’s Carmel-by-the-Sea, a posh, oceanfront town along the Pacific, just 120 miles south of San Francisco.

At the waterfront property, 32 of the 33 rooms have ocean views (and a handful have fireplaces, for when the nights get chilly). The restaurant, open for dinner only, looks out on the vast expanse of the Pacific.

Named for State Senator Mr. Edward Tinkle, whose stone cottage once perched atop the Pacific coastline where Tickle Pink Inn now resides, this family-owned B&B offers European luxury at the edge of Big Sur.

A rope swing—dangling from an oak tree just outside the lobby—signifies the youthful aesthetic: what was once a gray-haired golf resort just east of Carmel is now a sprawling outpost well-suited for families, and couples too.

Built on pylons over Monterey Bay, the Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa is the closest hotel to the ocean on the northern California peninsula. Dolphins swim by the property almost daily, and travelers on their private balconies can often spot sea otter searching for oysters.

Book a room with a fireplace this stone-and-stucco, intimate hotel, where many of the 16 rooms have vaulted ceilings and wooden shutters. A Belgian draft horse, Chester, is the luxe property’s mascot, spending his evenings pulling guests around the town square.

The hotel opened in 1992 and is made up entirely of small buildings set on a ridge high above the Pacific. In 2008 Post Ranch added 10 new sculptural structures, spiraling Pacific Suites, cantilevered Peak Houses, and Richard Serra-esque Cliff houses clad in torques of rusted steel.

Nearly every Mongolian-esque yurt at this eco-resort has ocean views from the redwood decks and Adirondack chairs, but without the thread count or plumbing—the bathroom is a short walk away—a small price to pay for a spectacular location.